Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, is an internationally networked aquatic research institute within the ETH Domain (Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). Eawag conducts research, education and expert consulting to achieve the dual goals of meeting direct human needs for water and maintaining the function and integrity of aquatic ecosystems.
within the newly funded
NCCR-Clim+. The NCCR CLIM+ will establish the first fully interdisciplinary, Switzerland-wide climate research community that tackles pressing issues related to climate extremes such as heatwaves, floods, heavy rainfalls, droughts, wildfires, and further compound events. It will thereby and additionally interact with stakeholders ranging from public health to finance, agriculture, and water management.
By pooling competence from 20 leading Swiss research institutions across multiple natural and social science disciplines, NCCR CLIM+ will combine fundamental knowledge with transformational knowledge.
Under the lead of ETH Zurich and the University of Bern the newly founded Centre for Climate Extremes and Resilience in Swiss Society (CERESS) will connect with numerous further universities and climate centres across Switzerland. CERESS will support nationwide research, co-design living labs, and produce actionable solutions, thus forming a new transdisciplinary nexus between science, society, practice, and politics.
PhD Project on Science Integration within the NCCR-Clim+This ‘accompanying research’ (Begleitforschung) to the NCCR-Clim+ will study science integration using the NCCR-CLIM+ as an empirical case study. The project will be part of a broader effort within Eawag to foster systematic learning across larger research projects, programs, initiatives consortia with a view to developing ‘how to’ practical knowledge for designing and implementing science integration and for supporting academic careers at the interface between different disciplines.
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n particular, the project will address the following research questions: What conditions enable or hinder science integration in the NCCR-CLIM+? What challenges and opportunities will the NCCR-CLIM+ Co-Directors, the CERESS Executive Co-Directors, Lead PIs, Partners, Members, and Early Career Researchers experience regarding science integration? What lessons learned and best practices can be derived for the future of the NCCR-CLIM+ and other large consortia?
The accompanying research project will triangulate qualitative social science methods (i.e., semi-structured interviews with NCCR-CLIM+ team members at all levels) with co-creation workshops and participants' observations. Besides peer-reviewed publications, the project will produce a practice brief for academies and funding agencies dealing with large interdisciplinary consortia. It will include hands-on empirical insights on how to strengthen an integrative research culture and how to create meaningful interfaces between different research institutions, teams, disciplines, and the outside for the future phases of the NCCR-CLIM+ and other/future NCCRs.
The candidate will be employed at Eawag Dubendorf within the Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research Group led by Dr Sabine Hoffmann of (ESS) and benefit from the research group’s expertise and experience in leading science integration in large research consortia.
Successful candidates should hold a MSc in social sciences – e.g. sociology, political science –, anthropology, science and technology studies, environmental sciences, or related fields. They should demonstrate a strong interest in ‘accompanying research’, i.e. inquiring into interdisciplinary processes taking place at the interface between different disciplines, teams and institutions. Candidates must have experience in applying different qualitative social science methods (e.g. semi-structured interviews, participants observations, focus groups, co-creation workshops), conducting qualitative content analysis of collected data (e.g., inductive and/or deductive coding) and writing both peer-reviewed scientific publications and practice brief (or other types of innovative outputs). Successful candidates should be intrinsically motivated to contribute to interdisciplinarity in both theory and practice and are expected to have good integrative skills, and high social and emotional intelligence. Command of English plus at least one of the national languages is a must.
The position is fixed to a period of four years and preferably starts on 1 September 2026.
At Eawag, we have a working environment in which people with different experiences, strengths, and perspectives can fully contribute and further develop. Here, you can help us advance! We promote genuine participation, exchange, and mutual understanding. We create structures that enable the compatibility of work and other areas of life, such as care work, and continuously make efforts to reduce barriers.
Do you have specific requirements regarding the application process or the position, or do you need additional information? Talk to us about it - we will be happy to support you with possible flexible workplace, working hours, and job design solutions. For further information please visit our website about Eawag as well as our conditions of employment.
For further information on this position, please contact
Dr Sabine Hoffmann,
sabine.hoffmann@eawag.ch or
Prof. Dr Karin Ingold,
karin.ingold@unibe.ch.
Applications are expected to be submitted no later than 7 June 2026 and should include a CV, a publication list as well as two recommendation letters.
We look forward to receiving your application.Please send it through this webpage, as any other way of applying will not be considered. A click on the button below will take you directly to the application form.